The next Gwangju Biennale will be organized not by a world-renowned curator but by an artist whose profile is fast-rising.
Ho Tzu Nyen will organize the 2026 edition of South Korea’s Gwangju Biennale, which is regarded as one of the top biennial-style shows in Asia. It’s not the first time that Ho has organized a biennial—he did the Asian Art Biennale in 2019.
Still, his appointment as artistic director is an anomaly within the history of the Gwangju Biennale, which is known for mounting edgy exhibitions by famed curators. Okwui Enwezor organized the biennial in 2008, seven years before doing the Venice Biennale; Nicolas Bourriaud, Hou Hanru, Charles Esche, Harald Szeemann, and others of note have also done editions of the Gwangju Biennale.
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While Ho’s theme was not entirely detailed by the Gwangju Biennale, the biennial hinted that it will focus on the power of art to enact change. “His curatorial approach, designed to ignite a much-needed driving force in a time of global uncertainty, is expected to chart a new direction for the Gwangju Biennale,” the biennial said in its press release.
Ho is best known for films that have explored the changing face of the Asia continent, with an eye to its past, present, and future. A recent commission for the M+ museum focused on nostalgia and Hong Kong cinema, and a survey of his work debuted in 2023 at the Singapore Art Museum and is still traveling internationally. He represented Singapore at the 2011 Venice Biennale.
“It’s a dream come true to return to Gwangju, not as an artist but as Artistic Director, and to embark on such a unique journey in this remarkable city,” Ho said in a statement. “This edition will bring together the energies, propositions, practices, and ideas that have inspired and propelled me over the past two decades. It will be an opportunity to explore how the practice of artistic transformation resonates with Gwangju’s legacy of democratic change. Rather than delivering a single message, this Biennale will seek to generate propositions for change that are shared and shaped by all of us.”
His Gwangju Biennale is set to open in September 2026.